During the early stages of the 2020 pandemic, theater-makers across the United States were faced with the devastating reality that their profession had disappeared overnight. As a means of coping, Sheila Callaghan, Meg Miroshnik, and Kelly Miller (founding members of the feminist collective The Kilroys) sent out a call to their peers to consider what "theatre with no theater" might look like. They reached out to writers, directors, literary managers, composers, artistic associates-- basically any theater artist whose email they could dig up. They were immediately flooded with over 140 submissions in various artistic genres: Illustrations, poetry, photographs, collage, screen caps, shopping lists, monologues, etc. The result is an eclectic collection that reflects the absurdity, humor, impossibility, and grief inherent in making "theatre" at a time when live performance as we know it does not exist. Each singular piece in this volume provides a deeply intimate look at the emotional status of its creator during lockdown.
Featured are works by the following artists (in alphabetical order): Liz Duffy Adams, Nayna Agrawal, Tessa Albertson, Jazmine Aluma, Liz Appel, Mallery Avidon, Rachel Axler, Jenny Lyn Bader, Kari Bentley-Quinn, Kate Bergstrom, Susan Bernfield, Larry Biederman, Rachel Bonds, Amy Boratko, Mattie Brickman, Eleanor Burgess, Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Jonathan Caren, Marisa Carr, Jaime Castañeda, Jo Cattell, Jennifer Chambers, Jackie Chung, Carmela Corbett, Adam D. Crain, Cusi Cram, Migdalia Cruz, Francisca Da Silveira, Mashuq Deen, Steph Del Rosso, Kristoffer Diaz, Julie Felise Dubiner, Erik Ehn, Larissa FastHorse, Annah Feinberg, Liz Frankel, Gibson Frazier, Matt Freeman, Edith Freni, Jeremy Gable, Joanna Glum, Emma Goidel, Jacqueline Goldfinger, Isaac Gómez, Tasha Gordon-Solmon, Kirsten Greenidge, Rinne Groff, Jason Grote, Lauren M. Gunderson, April Dawn Guthrie, Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Adrien-Alice Hansel, Elizabeth Harper, Julie Hébert, Justice Hehir, Laura Heisler, Alex Henrikson, Deb Hiett, Daniel Hirsch, Lily Holleman, Jess Honovich, Scott Horstein, Andy Horwitz, Emma Horwitz, Lily Houghton, Lindsay Brandon Hunter, Kristin Idaszak, Naomi Iizuka, Rachel Jendrzejewski, Kate Jopson, Lila Rose Kaplan, MJ Kaufman, Lucas Kavner, Lisa Kenner Grissom, Callie Kimball, Ramona Rose King, Krista Knight, Andrea Kuchlewska, Jenni Lamb, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Jer Adrianne Lelliott, Sarah Rose Leonard, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Danielle Levsky, Mike Lew, Jerry Lieblich, Katie Lindsay, Craig Lucas, Kirk Lynn, Wendy MacLeod, Jennifer Maisel, Chelsea Marcantel, Kelly Miller, Winter Miller, Rehana Lew Mirza, Michael Mitnick, Anne G. Morgan, Matt Moses, Allie Moss, Gregory S. Moss, Rebecca Mozo, Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko, Katie Locke O'Brien, Kira Obolensky, Laurel Ollstein, Matthew Paul Olmos, Julie Oullette, Kristen Palmer, Lina Patel, Christopher O. Peña, Roxie Perkins, Eric Pfeffinger, Rebecca Phillips Epstein, Daria Polatin, Christina Quintana (CQ), Stella Fawn Ragsdale, Molly Rice, Anya Richkind, Colette Robert, Alexis Roblan, Ashley Lauren Rogers, Elaine Romero, Whitney Rowland, Zoe Sarnak, Matt Schatz, Dana Schwartz, Betty Shamieh, Mike Shapiro, Alexandra Shilling, Jen Silverman, Jessy Lauren Smith, Elizabeth Spreen, Matt Stadelmann, Ellen Steves, Caridad Svich, Adam Szymkowicz, Kate Tarker, Ashley Teague, Melisa Tien, Ken Urban, Kathryn Walat, John Walch, Molly Ward, Seanan Palmero Waugh, Tatiana Wechsler, Jenny Rachel Weiner, Calamity West, Deborah Yarchun, Mackenzie Yeager, and Gina Young.